Editor: Trumbull LifeLines, the Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board for

Editor: Trumbull LifeLines, the Alcohol, Drug Addiction, and Mental Health Services Board for Trumbull County, received a 2.4 million dollar reduction in FY2010 allocations in the Governor’s Budget approved last week by the State Legislature. This is a 26% reduction to our county! No other area in the state budget received cuts as great as the cuts to mental health services. As a result of these reductions, thousands of persons with severe mental illness who do not qualify for Medicaid will not receive the services they need in order to survive. Schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression are “real” disorders of the brain. Left untreated, they can have serious consequences for the person with the disorder, their family and, indeed, their communities. Effective non-institutional treatments have been widely available in Ohio and have allowed the state to close most of its psychiatric hospitals. Now, as a direct result of the budget reductions, counseling, case management, housing, employment, assessments and other services will no longer be available for the poorest and most needy persons with mental illness and addictions in our community. More people are going to be homeless, jailed, hospitalized and desperate. Suicides and crimes that occur as a result of untreated mental illness could increase dramatically. Additionally, many jobs are likely to be lost at local agencies. The Governor and Legislature must work to correct this situation as soon as possible. There will be a corrections bill in September and I’m asking each of you to contact your elected officials and ask them to return some of the money to mental health services. If this does not occur, this will affect you in one way or another. Please help me to restore services to our community. April J. Caraway Executive Director, Trumbull LifeLines